Guide for System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Network Load Balancing

Guide for System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Network Load Balancing

Microsoft Corporation

Published: October 2012

Updated: October 2014

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Contents

Guide for System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Network Load Balancing

Supported Configurations

Getting Started

Before You Import the Management Pack

Files in This Management Pack

Optional Management Packs

How to Import the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack

Create a New Management Pack for Customizations

Optional Configuration

Security Considerations

Low-Privilege Environments

Object Groups

Understanding Management Pack Operations

Objects That the Management Pack Discovers

Classes

How Health Rolls Up

Key Monitoring Scenarios

Placing Monitored Objects in Maintenance Mode

Known Issues

Appendix: Monitors and Overrides for Management Packs

How to View Management Pack Details

Unit Monitors for a Management Pack

Dependency Monitors for a Management Pack

Performance Collection Rules for a Management Pack

Event Log Rules for a Management Pack

Overrides

Links

Guide for System Center Management Pack for Windows Server Network Load Balancing

The Windows ServerNetwork Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack provides discoveries, monitors, alerts, and warnings to help the operator understand the state of NLB clusters and NLB servers running Windows Server2008,Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server2012 R2. The Windows Server NLB Management Pack can provide early warnings that an operator can use to proactively monitor the state of the NLB servers in the computing environment.

Document Version

This guide was written based on the 6.0.7221.0version of the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack.

Getting the Latest Management Pack and Documentation

You can find the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack for System Center2012 – Operations Manager in the SystemCenter Marketplace(

The Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 is also available in the System Center Marketplace. This pack is supported on System Center Operations Manager 2007.

Apart from support for specific versions of System Center Operations Manager and Windows Server operating systems, the management packs are identical.

Guide History

Release Date / Changes
March 2013 / Original release of this guide
October 2013 / Updated for Windows Server 2012 R2 version 6.0.7055.0
October 2014 / Added the two IIS NLB files that were missing.

Supported Configurations

This management pack requires System Center2012 – Operations Manager or later.

The Windows ServerNetwork Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack supports monitoring NLB clusters on all editions of the Windows Server2008, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012 R2 operating systems, including Windows Server Core installations.

The management pack is not intended to monitor mixed-mode NLB clusters (those that include Windows Server2003 NLB clusters). Windows Server2008,Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012 R2 NLB clusters can be monitored.

Getting Started

This section describes the actions you should take before you import the management pack, any steps you should take after you import the management pack, and information about customizations.

Before You Import the Management Pack

Before you import the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack, note the following limitations of the management pack:

Agentless monitoring is not supported.

Before you import the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack, take the following actions:

Ensure that System Center2012 - Operations Manageris installed.

Install the Windows Server Base Operating System management pack.

If you are using the converted Network Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack to monitor Windows Server2003 NLB clusters, you must upgrade to the new version of the management pack before importing the Windows Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack. You can find the new version of the converted NLB Management Pack in the System Center Marketplace, located at

We recommend that you install the QFE referenced in the following article:”You may find the WMI Provider Host program wmiprvse.exe crashes on a Windows Server2008-based computer,” at

Files in This Management Pack

You must first download the Windows ServerNetwork Load Balancing Management Pack from the System Center Marketplace, located at The Windows ServerNetwork Load Balancing Management Pack includes the following files:

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.Library.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2012.R2.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2012.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2012.IISIntegration.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2008.IISIntegration.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2008.mp

Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.ReportLibrary.mp

OM2012_MP_NLB.doc

EULA.rtf

Optional Management Packs

If you want to monitor NLB clusters that are running Internet Information Services (IIS)7.0 in an application-aware way, you must import the Internet Information Services (IIS)7.0 Management Pack (version 6.0.6539.0 or later) in addition to the IIS Integration Management Pack. The IIS Integration Management Pack is included in the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack package (Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2008.IISIntegration.mp). You can find the Internet Information Services7.0 Management Pack in the System Center Marketplace, located at Note that IIS 7.5 servers will also be discovered.

How to Import the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack

For instructions about importing a management pack, see How to Import an Operations Manager Management Pack (

After the Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack is imported, perform the following procedures to finish your initial configuration:

1.Create a new management pack in which you store overrides and other customizations.

2.Enable proxying on all agents that manage servers that are part of a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster.

Warning

Discoveries and monitoring do not function unless proxy is enabled.

To enable the Agent Proxy setting on all agents managing a Windows Server NLB cluster

1.Open the Operations console, and then click Administration.
2.In the Administrator pane, click Agent Managed.
3.Double-click an agent in the list.
4.Click the Security tab.
5.Select Allow this agent to act as a proxy and discover managed objects on other computers.
6.Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each agent that is installed on a clustered server.

Create a New Management Pack for Customizations

By default, Operations Manager saves all customizations such as overrides to the Default Management Pack. As a best practice, you should instead create a separate management pack for each sealed management pack you want to customize.

When you create a management pack for the purpose of storing customized settings for a sealed management pack, it is helpful to base the name of the new management pack on the name of the management pack that it is customizing, such as “Biztalk Server 2006 Customizations”.

Creating a new management pack for storing customizations of each sealed management pack makes it easier to export the customizations from a test environment to a production environment. It also makes it easier to delete a management pack, because you must delete any dependencies before you can delete a management pack. If customizations for all management packs are saved in the Default Management Pack and you need to delete a single management pack, you must first delete the Default Management Pack, which also deletes customizations to other management packs.

Optional Configuration

The Windows Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack includes the capability to monitor the NLB cluster in an application-aware way. Application-aware monitoring provides the following benefits:

1.The health state of the load-balanced application can directly affect the health state of the cluster node and the health state of the cluster itself.

2.The health state change of the load-balanced application can trigger a system response that manipulates the cluster nodes in the following ways:

If the load-balanced application is in an unhealthy state, the current NLB node is taken out of the cluster

If the load-balanced application returns to a healthy state, the current NLB node is added back into the cluster

To provide the application-aware monitoring capabilities, you must import an additional management pack that links the NLB Management Pack with the load-balanced application management pack.

The NLB Management Pack includes a management pack that provides application-aware monitoring capabilities for Internet Information Services (IIS)7.0. The name of the management pack file is: Microsoft.Windows.NetworkLoadBalancing.2008.IISIntegration.mp. Note that this will also work for IIS7.5 versions using the IIS7.0 Management Pack.

If you want the NLB Management Pack to take action based on health state changes reported by the IIS7.0 Management Pack, you must take the additional step of enabling the following two recoveries that are disabled by default:

Recovery Name / Target / Associated Monitor
Start NLB Node / NLB Server Role / NLB Node depends on load-balanced application
Stop NLB Node / NLB Server Role / NLB Node depends on load-balanced application

Security Considerations

You might have to customize your management pack. Certain accounts cannot be run in a low-privilege environment or must have minimum permissions.

Low-Privilege Environments

The Windows Server Network Load Balancing (NLB) Management Pack requires local administrator privileges to discover, monitor, and execute tasks. For the management pack discoveries, monitors, tasks, diagnostics, and recoveries that require administrative privileges, the management pack uses the NLB Monitoring Action Account Run As profile. The management pack elements in the following tables are configured to use the NLB Monitoring Action Account Run As profile.

Discoveries

Name / Target
Windows Server NLB cluster discovery / Windows Server2008, Windows Server2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server2012R2 Computer
Windows Server NLB cluster discovery (event based) / Windows Server2008,Windows Server2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server2012 R2 Computer

Monitor

Name / Target
NLB node status / NLB server role

Tasks

Name / Target
Display NLB cluster settings / NLB server role
Drain and stop NLB node / NLB server role
Reload configuration / NLB server role
Resume NLB node / NLB server role
Start NLB node / NLB server role
Stop NLB node / NLB server role
Suspend NLB node / NLB server role

Diagnostics

Name / Target / Monitor Name
Node status diagnostic / NLB server role / NLB node status

Recoveries

Name / Target / Monitor Name
Start NLB node / NLB server role / NLB node depends on load balanced application
Stop NLB node / NLB server role / NLB node depends on load balanced application

Object Groups

You can delegate authority to a precise level with user roles. For more information about user roles, see the "Implementing User Roles" topic in the System Center2012 - Operations Manager Help (

The following object groups can be used for scoping and roles authorization:

NLB Clusters Group

NLB Computers Group

Windows Server2008 NLB Computer Group

Windows Server2008R2 NLB Computer Group

• Windows Server2012 NLB Computer Group
• Windows Server 2012 R2 NLB Computer Group

Understanding Management Pack Operations

Objects That the Management Pack Discovers

The Windows Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack discovers the object types that are described in the following list.

The following is the list of objects discovered. All the objects are discovered automatically.

NLB Cluster

NLB Server Role

Windows Server2008 NLB Server Role

Windows Server2008R2 NLB Server Role

• Windows Server2012 NLB Server Role
• Windows Server 2012 R2 NLB Server Role

Windows Server2008 NLB Network Adapter

Windows Server2008R2 NLB Network Adapter

• Windows Server2012 NLB Network Adapter
• Windows Server 2012 R2 NLB Network Adapter

Classes

The following diagram shows the classes that are defined in this management pack. Note that the Windows Server2008R2 NLB, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012R2 classes derive from the Windows Server2008 NLB classes.

How Health Rolls Up

The following diagram shows how the health states of components roll up in this management pack. Health rolls up in the same way for the Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012 R2 NLB classes.

Key Monitoring Scenarios

The following section describes some of the most common monitoring scenarios.

Monitor the NLB Node status.

Based on the status of individual cluster nodes, determine the overall state of the cluster.

Where an integration management pack exists, determine the health state of a cluster node by looking at the health state of the load balanced application, such as IIS.

Alert on errors and warnings that are reported by the NLB driver, such as an incorrectly configured NLB cluster.

Take the node out of the NLB cluster if the underlying load-balanced application becomes unhealthy, and add the node back to the cluster when the application becomes healthy again.

Placing Monitored Objects in Maintenance Mode

When a monitored object, such as a computer or distributed application, goes offline for maintenance, Operations Managerdetects that no agent heartbeat is being received and, as a result, might generate numerous alerts and notifications. To prevent alerts and notifications being generated, place the monitored object into maintenance mode. In maintenance mode, alerts, notifications, rules, monitors, automatic responses, state changes, and new alerts are suppressed at the agent.

For general instructions on placing a monitored object in maintenance mode, see How to Suspend Monitoring Temporarily by Using Maintenance Mode (

Known Issues

Mixed-Mode NLB Clusters

The Windows Server NLB Management Pack is designed for monitoring only Network Load Balancing (NLB) servers that are running Windows Server2008, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server2012 R2. Monitoring mixed-mode NLB clusters (those that include Windows Server2003 NLB clusters) is not a supported scenario. This management pack might not report the correct health state of a mixed-mode NLB cluster. Monitoring of Windows Server2008, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012 R2 mixed-mode clusters is supported.

Windows Server Core

There is an issue on Windows Server Core that prevents the Windows Server NLB Management Pack from discovering and monitoring the network adapter that is used by NLB. Consequently, performance data about the network adapter used by NLB is not collected and the adapter status is not rolled up to the status of the NLB server role.

There is currently no QFE or workaround for this issue.

NLB Node Participating in Multiple Clusters

If an NLB node is participating in multiple clusters and you disable the network adapter that binds that node into a cluster, the node is not discovered the next time the discovery is run.

Appendix: Monitors and Overrides for Management Packs

This section provides detailed information about the management packs that you import. Except where noted, these all apply to Windows Server2008, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server2012R2 NLB clusters.

How to View Management Pack Details

For more information about a monitor and the associated override values, see the knowledge for the monitor.

To view knowledge for a monitor

1.In the Operations console, click Authoring.
2.Expand Management Pack Objects, and then click Monitors.
3.In the Monitors pane, expand the targets until you reach the monitor level. Alternatively, you can use the Search box to find a particular monitor.
4.Click the monitor, and in the Monitors pane, click View knowledge.
5.Click the Product Knowledge tab.

Unit Monitors for a Management Pack

The following applies to all unit monitors listed in the tables below:

All are enabled by default

All generate an alert by default (unless otherwise noted). This can be changed by creating an override.

Unit Monitors: Network Load Balancing Components

Name / Target / Interval (sec) / Severity / Auto Resolve
NLB node status / NLB Server Role / 180 / True / MatchMonitorHealth

Unit Monitors: Event Log

Name / Target / Log / Source / Event / Severity / Auto Resolve
Frequent node convergence / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 29 / Warning / True
DEPRECATED
NLB cluster IP address is invalid / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 16 / Error / True
DEPRECATED
NLB cluster network address is invalid / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 14 / Error / True
DEPRECATED
NLB cluster network mask is invalid / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 31 / Error / True
DEPRECATED
Number of port rules exceeds the configured maximum / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 22 / Error / True
SYN Attack / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 92 / Error / True
Timer starvation / Windows Server NLB Server Role / System / Microsoft-Windows-NLB / 105 / Error / True

Dependency Monitors for a Management Pack